Gary Brown: Bill of sale shows 1922 Fords were a bargain in Canton

“The automobile show was a decided success,” the Ford franchise said in an advertisement in The Repository in April 1922. “The Ford as usual was ahead on sales,” continued the ad, noting that there were “26 Ford cars sold at the automobile show and 19 outside, a total of 45 cars sold in 8 days.”

And this was without any Cash for Clunkers program.

I looked up the advertisement because after I wrote about long-ago low prices for repairing old Model T Fords a friend showed me a motor vehicle bill of sale for a new Model T. The legal paper, dated April 28, 1922, listed the sale by Monnot & Sacher of a Model T touring car to a Canton man.

No surprise, the car was described as being “painted black.” The joke of that day was you could buy a Model T in any color you wanted, as long as you wanted black.

More interesting, the bill of sale listed among other “number or marks of identification” the fact that the car had an “electric starter,” that the key number was “65.” It also noted that the horsepower of this Model T was 20. And it recorded the price — $490.

That car cost was why so many Ford cars were being sold at the time, according to the Ford ad.

“Better Ford cars at lower prices,” claimed Monnot & Sacher, which had dealerships on Market Avenue SW and Dueber Avenue SW. “Ford cars have never been as low in price. Ford cars have never been as high in quality.”

This is not to say that Model Ts were perfect. They needed to be repaired from time to time like any automobile, the ad admitted, before it assured motorists that buying “genuine Ford parts made by the Ford Motor Co.” would yield “from 35 to 100 percent more wear” at the “lowest possible cost.”

“Fifty percent of genuine Ford parts retail for less than 10 cents,” the ad said. “Ford batteries for starting and lighting are now $22. We have them.”

So it appears that the man who bought the Model T that was transferred from dealership to driver in my friend’s bill of sale got a pretty good deal — even in 1922 dollars.

The most inexpensive Nash was selling for $955.

The Jewett was advertised for $1,065.

The Mitchell Touring and Roadster cars were going for $1,490.

A 1922 Paige — “the most beautiful car in America,” an ad said — went for $1,465, and prices for its different models ranged to $3,350 for the seven-passanger Paige Limousine.

The Chevrolet came close in cost to the Ford. The “superior Chevrolet Touring and Roadster” cars cost $525.

But who knows how many deals were sealed by Ford boasting of its convenient payment plan.

“We will deliver you a Ford by paying 331⁄3 percent down,” the ad said, almost insisted. “One year to pay the balance. Buy now.”

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